COLOMBIA: The Green Elephant

In Colombia, which produces almost all the
world's emeralds, the gems lie so close to the earth's surface that
they have been turned up by foraging pigs. Yet from the viewpoint of
the government's supposed emerald monopoly, most of the stones might as
well be buried beyond reach. The real rulers of the jungle-matted
minefields are the esmeralderos (emerald buccaneers); they buy and
steal illegally mined stones, smuggle them out, engage in endless
shootouts and wind up with most of the estimated $150 million that
global sales of Colombian emeralds generate each year. Fed up, the
government closed most...